Glide Magazine has posted their review of the Biloxi show and an interview with Justin-

When you first started writing songs, were they similar to how you are writing today with all the honesty and rawness?

Oh yeah. The first song I wrote was a song called “Black Orchid” about teen suicide. When I read it to my mom, she was like, “ok, we’ll go see a doctor now” (laughs). It’s kind of like my way of telling my friends and family, “Hey, I’m not doing too good” or “Hey, life is great”. It’s always been my way of talking and I’ve always loved writing and I’ve always liked talking about things that are on my mind. Certain people just don’t like to talk about it.

When you write about the dark places that are going on inside of you, do you have to go back to those dark places or are you far enough back from them to see it through different eyes?

I usually write while things are going on in my life. I look back when I’m singing now with different eyes but not when I’m going through it. I can’t write about it unless I’ve gone through it and seen it happen or think of it.

Do you get a lot of feedback from your fans about some of the songs making an impact on them?

Oh yeah, that’s the reason I keep doing it. Because no matter what, there is somebody out in the audience that might feel better about themselves from hearing it. I don’t know why but they tell me that all the time

Read the entire interview and the review here.

This song is has become one of my all time favorite Blue October songs. I love the video for it as well. I’m sure some of you were expecting to see something different from this video based on the fact that Blue October asked for video submissions. They issued this statement about the video-

Blue October is extremely grateful for those who took the time to submit the amazing images for The Worry List video. After deep consideration, Justin decided to go down a different path for the video. We hope each of you know how appreciated you are.

We hope you love the new video as much as we do.

(There are some sound issues with this video. The sound starts about 30 seconds into the video and also cuts out in the middle.)

The Daily Reveille: What is the meaning of “Any Man in America?”

Noveskey: My take on it, the actual title itself means what Justin [Furstenfeld, the band’s singer] experienced and what he’s gone through [with his divorce and ensuing custody battle] can happen to anybody in this country. Because based off the laws of the lack of shared parenting and just the issues we have with the laws when it comes to custody, it can happen to anybody.

We’ve been doing this for so long. We’re not just a band; we’re way more than that. We’re a family. We’ve been through so much together with many ups and downs. … The album definitely reflects life. It’s what we like to call “reality music.” None of it is fictional and none of it is in third person. It’s all very much from [Justin’s] perspective. It’s all relative. When you’re going out touring in support of something that is a snap shot of your life, you live it every day.

TDR: This album has a hip-hop flair to it. What separates it from your past releases?

Noveskey: Besides the actual content, which is vastly different from the other albums, style-wise there is a lot of exploration going on in this record. We just wanted to try some different things and try going in different directions. Hip-hop is actually something that Justin has really been into his whole life. He really wanted to bring that into the band for this record. … To go a new direction is one thing, and he said he wanted to keep it fresh and not just regurgitate the same style over and over again.

Read the entire article here.

Fatherhood comes up on last summer’s release, “Any Man in America,” since Furstenfeld has a 5-year-old daughter.

“She doesn’t know what I do,” he admitted. Right now, she’s more interested in being Cinderella. But she must have gotten some musical genes, he added, since she loves to sing.

Some of Furstenfeld’s life lessons influence his lyrics.

“Parents should be better parents and better people,” he said. The same logic applies to himself, he added.

Read the entire article here.

In this interview Justin talks about the new album, Blue Miller, Julian joining the band, The Feel Again (Stay), and much, much more. He even shares a snippet of a new song they are working on!

CVM: We’ll start with an easy one. In terms of music, what are some of your main influences?

JF: Peter Gabriel, The Smiths, The Cure, Leonard Cohen, Cowboy Junkies. Things like that. Johnny Cash. And then Lil’ Wayne and Jay Z.

CVM: One thing I wanted to touch on a little bit was your paintings? Was that just another form of expression that you’ve found over the years?

JF: Yeah, I’m not a painter. I just do it because it feels right. I used to paint a lot, but I hardly paint anymore. But I do love to paint, I’m not a painter though. Just like I’m not a guitarist. I’m a stunt guitarist. 

CVM: Now I wouldn’t say your writing style is a conventional one? Is that something you did through choice or is it just how things develop through time as you started writing?

JF: I’ve always grown up on 4AD Electric Bands, Cocteau Twins and stuff like that you know? So when I write, I constantly write. I’m constantly writing when I’m at home, it’s all I do when I’m at home is write. So when I’m on tour it’s like “Oh, wow. I wrote that?” I don’t really structure it. I structure it later. 

I write probably two songs a day, and so I have about 198 songs I’ve written over the last two years that I still have to put out. So that’s a lot of work to do. It’s all I do, there’s not a conventional way about it. I can go with a beat first, I can go with a guitar part first, I can go with any part first. If it inspires me to keep writing, I’ll keep writing it.

Somehow I missed this in December when it was posted. Blue October created a personal radio station for Slacker Radio. You can access their station here.

Blue October wants your help making their next music video. Here is the information they sent out-

After the overwhelming response from sons, daughters, mothers and fathers to AnyManInAmerica.com, Blue October wants to take your beautiful heartfelt messages and thoughts and share them with the world through our video for “The Worry List”.

Here is what to do:
1. We encourage you to take part and upload a short video clip (with or without written messages, average 3 to 4 seconds) of honest unstaged moments of joy, happiness, sadness, and beauty for use in “The Worry List” music video. Who’s worry list are you on? What’s on your worry list?

NOTE: Video resolution must be as high as possible (HD resolutions are preferred – 1280×720 or 1920×1080)

2. Upload your video to YouTube and keep it unlisted.

3. Please submit your video by sending the YouTube URL and a short description to theworrylistvideo [AT] gmail.com

Once we start to get entries we will be going through the uploads and choosing the most touching moments captured on film to put in our music video.

Video Submission Release
By submitting your video clip you are agreeing to the terms and conditions found HERE.